Frequently Asked Questions for SB AWE32 ======================================= This is a frequently asked question document for the Creative SB AWE32 sound card. This document summarizes many frequently asked questions and answers about the SB AWE32. If you have a question, please check this file before calling Creative Technical Support as you may find the answer contained in this document. This FAQ is organized into the following sections: [A] SB AWE32 in General [B] Editing Tools [C] Programming Information [D] SoundFont(TM) Banks [E] Introduction to the EMU8000 chip [F] How do I ... [G] References [H] NRPN Table Before you continue ... This document assumes you have a basic understanding of how MIDI works, the different MIDI messages, and how your MIDI sequencer works. If you are not familiar with these topics, please consider consulting a friend who has experience with MIDI, or consulting books on MIDI. A list of recommended reading on MIDI can be found in section G of this document. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Contents ======== SECTION A - SB AWE32 IN GENERAL 1. What is the SB AWE32? How does it differ from the SB16? 2. How much memory is shipped with the SB AWE32 card? 3. Can I upgrade the memory on my SB AWE32 card? 4. What is the recommended SIMM memory access speed? 5. How do I upgrade the memory on the card? 6. What are the uses of the 512 KB DRAM on the SB AWE32? 7. Would adding DRAM to the SB AWE32 increase the performance of WAVE file editing or manipulation? 8. Is it possible to use AWE32 sounds (16 channels) together with FM sounds from the OPL-3 chip (16 channels) in Cakewalk? 9. How many MIDI channels can the SB AWE32 handle in Windows? 10. What MIDI sequencers will work with SB AWE32? Are special drivers required? 11. Are there any plans for OS/2 and Windows NT SB AWE32 drivers? 12. What I/O port addresses are used by the EMU8000? 13. Why doesn't the EMU8000 have a built in MIDI interpreter? 14. Does the SB AWE32 support MIDI Sample Dump to transfer samples to the EMU8000? 15. What is CC0 documented in Appendix G-4 and G-5 of the SB AWE32 Getting Started Manual? How are these variation tones accessed? 16. What "drum kits" are available in GS mode? 17. Does the SB AWE32 respond to MIDI Aftertouch? 18. My PC system does not have a working NMI. What can I do to use AWEUTIL? 19. Is there a WaveBlaster upgrade option on the SB AWE32? 20. What is the benefit of adding a WaveBlaster to the SB AWE32? 21. Is it possible to load AWEUTIL into high memory? 22. Does AWEUTIL have to stay memory resident? 23. What are the long term plans to solve the problem with DOS extender games? 24. Will software written for the SB16 work with the SB AWE32? 25. Does Creative have any plans for a SCSI version of the SB AWE32? 26. What CD-ROM drives does the SB AWE32 support? 27. What are the different reverb and chorus variations available on the SB AWE32? 28. What are the undocumented JP6, JP8 and JP9 jumpers on the card? 29. How does the AWE32 Value Edition differ from the Sound Blaster AWE32? SECTION B - EDITING TOOL 1. Is there a preset editor for the SB AWE32? 2. Is it possible to patch multiple sounds across different keys, such as a drum kit? 3. How are new instruments on the SB AWE32 created? 4. What functionality does Vienna SF Studio offer? 5. Where do I get my copy of Vienna? 6. Can Vienna load samples for other systems e.g. Akai S1000 or Yamaha TG55? SECTION C - PROGRAMMING INFORMATION 1. Is programming information available for the SB AWE32? 2. Is the effect engine on the SB AWE32 programmable? SECTION D - SOUNDFONT BANK 1. What are SoundFont Collections? 2. How do SoundFont Banks work? 3. Where can I purchase SoundFont Banks? 4. What can I do with SoundFont Banks? 5. Will having 28 MB on the SB AWE32 improve the sound quality over a standard 512 KB SB AWE32? SECTION E - INTRODUCTION TO THE EMU8000 CHIP SECTION F - HOW DO I ... 1. How do I make use of RPN documented in the SB AWE32 MIDI Implementation chart? 2. How do I change an instrument's sound parameter in real time? 3. How do I select the SB AWE32?s reverb and chorus variation type through MIDI? 4. How can I maximize my system's memory so that I still have plenty of room to run games after installing the SB AWE32? 5. How do I load a SoundFont Bank? 6. How do I setup my sequencer software to access the user bank that I have downloaded into the RAM ? 7. How do I get the latest drivers for the SB AWE32? SECTION G - REFERENCES SECTION H - SB AWE32 NRPN IMPLEMENTATION ----------------------------------------------------------------- Section A - SB AWE32 1. What is the SB AWE32? How does it differ from the SB16? The SB AWE32 is a standard SB16 MultiCD with the EMU 8000 Advanced WavEffect music synthesizer chip. The card includes all the standard SB16 features. Additionally, the SB AWE32 includes the Advanced Signal Processor and multiple interfaces supporting Creative, Mitsumi and Sony CD-ROM drives. The EMU8000 is a sub-system offering high quality music synthesis using advanced wave effects technology. It comes with an onboard dedicated effect engine. The effect engine provides high quality effects like reverb and chorus to MIDI playback. The EMU8000 supports up to 32 voices, and the effect amount for each voice can be controlled via MIDI. The EMU8000 comes integrated with 1MB of General MIDI samples and 512kB of DRAM for additional sample downloading. It can address up to 28 MB of external DRAM memory. The SB AWE32 supports General MIDI, Roland GS and Sound Canvas MT- 32 emulation. Note: MT-32 Emulation on the SB AWE32 is similar to that of the Sound Canvas; e.g., MT-32 sysex is not supported. 2. How much memory is shipped with the SB AWE32 card? The card ships with 1 MB of General MIDI ROM samples and 512 KB of DRAM for user sample downloading. 3. Can I upgrade the memory on my SB AWE32 card? The Sound Blaster AWE32 has a pair of SIMM sockets for upgrading the DRAM to as much as 28 megabytes. The SB AWE32 Value Edition card does not allow the memory to be upgraded. 4. What is the recommended SIMM memory access speed? Hardware specifications call for SIMM modules with 80 nanosecond or better access times. 5. How do I upgrade the memory on the card? To upgrade the memory, you can purchase standard SIMM modules and insert them into the SIMM sockets provided on the SB AWE32. (If you are not familiar with inserting SIMM modules, check with a technician where you purchased the SIMM modules. They should be able to help). You will also need to reconfigure the memory selector jumper on the SB AWE32 card. The SIMM sockets on the SB AWE32 were designed to accommodate industry standard 30-pin SIMM modules. You will need to insert two SIMMs of the same memory size into both of the sockets. The available memory options are: 2 MB (using 2 1 MB SIMMs) 8 MB (using 2 4 MB SIMMs) 32 MB (using 2 16 MB SIMMs) Note that you cannot mix different size (that is, 2 MB and 8 MB) SIMM modules together on a single SB AWE32 card. There are also 72 pins SIMM modules on the market. Such SIMMs can be found on motherboards that use 8 or 16 megabit SIMMs or as cache RAM. They are incompatible with the SIMM sockets on the SB AWE32 card. The EMU8000 treats the first 4 MB of its DRAM address space as ROM memory. As a result, when you insert two 16 MB SIMMs onto the SB AWE32, only 28 MB will be addressable. Note : SB AWE32 Value Edition does not allow memory upgrade. 6. What are the uses of the 512 KB DRAM on the SB AWE32? The on-board 512 KB of memory is used to hold user samples. In GS synthesizer mode, this 512 KB is used to hold the sound effects of GS. In GM synthesizer mode, the 512 KB DRAM is free, so it can hold SoundFont banks containing samples. MT-32 Synthesizer mode uses a small portion of the 512 KB of memory, therefore you can still load your own SoundFont bank samples into the rest of the free RAM space. 7. Would adding DRAM to the SB AWE32 increase the performance of WAVE file editing or manipulation? Addition of SIMM DRAM to the SB AWE32 will allow you to accommodate more SoundFont bank data. This, however, will not increase the performance of WAVE file editing or manipulation as the latter does not make use of the SIMM DRAM on the SB AWE32. 8. Is it possible to use AWE32 sounds (16 channels) together with FM sounds from the OPL-3 chip (16 channels) in Cakewalk? You can use both the AWE32 sounds AND the OPL-3 FM sounds together in Cakewalk. As both the AWE32 and OPL-3 appear under Microsoft Windows as two separate MIDI devices, you can play both devices simultaneously. There are 2 methods that you can used. You can either changed the MIDI Mapper settings OR changed it within Cakewalk The following is a step-by-step guide: Method 1 -------- 1. Start the Control Panel, and enter the MIDI Ma...
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